| The Ruth Klein Report - June 2008 |
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A Note from Ruth: Capitalizing on the "Next New"
Upcoming Events: Mark Your Calendar!
12-Week Branding & Productivity Coaching Class Begins July 10
Feature Article: Building Your Best Virtual Team
Ruth Recommends: The Laser Secret Society
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Dear <$firstname$>,
Google the words "finding the next new thing," and you'll get 71.7 million hits. It's not just about innovation; finding the "next new" allows businesses of any size to capitalize on a new technology, artist, photographer, Web designer, program or system before it reaches the status of expensive. Thus, the "next new" can be a budget saver long before becoming a budget buster.
In this struggling economy, finding and capitalizing on the "next new" innovation or way of doing business can keep you ahead of the competition.
The rule of thumb that dozens of recent studies and reports point out is that in the excitement to find the "next new" at a discount, businesses overlook this question: "Does the 'next new' fulfill an existing need?" The IT sectors that first made a national sport out of finding the "next new" also buy up the talent or technology the need that solves existing problems.
For example, the ills of urban sprawl at a time of rising transportation costs led to the Urban Land Institute reporting that those who know how to build, serve or define pedestrian-friendly suburban villages will benefit from this next new thing. Hundreds of articles promote "going green" as the next new thing that already is taking shape. Environmentally friendly products, consultants and services are in higher demand. Capitalizing on this new trend is how you will give your business the edge.
Define your need, and then proceed to look for the "next new" with your rule of thumb being whether that person, thing or event can solve your existing problem.
Here are a few smart tips:
- Think Outside the Box. There are thousands and thousands of Web sites promoting "the next new." For example, Dianne Morello, an analyst at Gartner, Inc., the global information technology research and advisory company, suggested at one recent symposium that businesses consider looking for human resources at "Teach for America," which has a reputation for innovative approaches by idealistic participants.
- New Doesn't Always Equal Young. When the fast-growing Manhattan trends company DailyCandy went shopping for the next new pool of talent, they shopped the venerable New York Times to reel in the new talent of two of the paper's veteran executives.
- Look Far and Wide. The Internet has made geography almost obsolete when it comes to finding the "next new" talent who can easily transmit his or her talent and solutions. India has evolved from a place to shop for support staff to the place to shop for the "next new" technology solutions. Search the Internet, job boards and also consult your peers to find the name of a person who solved a similar problem, and determine if that person can solve your specific problem.
- Look Right in Front of You. Yale economics professor Jonathan S. Feinstein, author of the book, "The Nature of Creative Development," says providing employees time to pursue creative interests often spawns "the next new" within your own firm. Encourage them to take the time to pursue creative interests, and then make the time to pay attention to how those external interests can result in "the next new" for your company's needs.
- Proclaim your "next new" expertise. Use your Web site, e-newsletters and blogs to proclaim your expertise at finding the "next new." Create a regular "The Next New" feature on your Web site, and post what you have discovered, along with your comments on evolving trends. This is a smart way to leverage your insights into new products and marketing tools that also will strengthen your personal brand by establishing your expertise.
Inside this issue, you'll find smart information on building a virtual workforce, regardless of whether you are a solo entrepreneur or CEO of small or large business.
If you like what you read inside this issue, then you'll want to subscribe to the one business tool that will help you outmaneuver the competition and keep you on top of the hottest trends that will grow your bottom line fast: Ruth Klein's Laser Secret Society.
Inside this issue, you'll also learn how you can subscribe to this formidable resource on branding, marketing and business trends in one comprehensive, concisely packaged and very compelling asset to any business.
Here's to your Marketing & Productivity Success!
Ruth Klein, Branding, Marketing & Productivity Coach, is a consultant to hundreds of clients ranging from solo entrepreneurs to the Fortune 500. Owner of the award-winning firm, The Marketing/Time Source, Ruth Klein holds a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology. She is author of the best-selling Time Management Secrets for Working Women and other marketing, sales and business success strategy books. Ruth Klein is a sought-after business consultant, speaker, coach and product/services spokesperson.
Contact Ruth Klein at rklein@ruthklein.com.
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Harness The Power of Your Personal Brand
Join Ruth Klein's 12-Week Branding & Productivity Coaching Class
Starting July 12, 2008
In 12 weeks, you can learn how to differentiate yourself from other businesses offering similar services, and what three things you need in every brand message. You will learn how to use five marketing strategies to attract clients with your internal and external brand personality. You will gain the expertise to craft a captivating marketing message that will attract attention.
THIS CONTENT-PACKED TELE-CLASS WILL SAVE YOU FROM COSTLY MISTAKES WHILE ZEROING IN ON WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO MAXIMIZE YOUR PROFITS!
This 12-week course will cover dozens of topics that will save you time and make you money, including:
- Week 1: Identifying the YOU in Your Brand
- Week 2: Identifying the External Personality of Your Brand
- Week 3: Creating Your Signature Event
- Week 4: The Psychological Measurement of Your Brand
- Week 5: The Emotional Measurement of Your Brand
- Week 6: The Physical Measurement of Your Brand
- Week 7: Leveraging Your Brand, Time and Money
- Week 8: The 10 Biggest Time Interruptions for Small Business
- Week 9: The Anatomy of Your Work Day
- Week 10: Going from Overwhelm to Focus to Action
- Week 11: Integrative Modular Marketing
- Week 12: Leveraging Your Brand with Products and Services
Go here to learn more and to sign up today. Don't miss this opportunity!
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7 Ways to Build Your Best Virtual Team
By Ruth Klein
As companies add more virtual teams of off-site workers to their rolls, their mistakes are becoming expensive lessons that other companies can avoid. And their successes are evolving into a blueprint for the most cost-effective use of virtual teams of workers.
One Telework Coalition survey of employers cited the advantage of having virtual employees who, because the virtual team system already was established, were able to "return" to work immediately following the 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina tragedies.
Because they are contract workers or available as just-in-time staff, there also is the obvious cost-savings of not having to absorb the cost of medical benefits, paid time off and traditional office overhead expenses. Most virtual workers today come equipped with their own laptops, high-speed Internet access, cell phones and other essentials.
IBM's general manager of Lotus software, Mike Rhodin, predicted at the U.S. VoiceCon conference in March 2008 that the virtual workplace will become the rule in coming years. Higher transportation costs and efforts to promote "green" businesses will encourage new work-at-home models.
What does that mean for businesses considering outsourcing work to "virtual" workforces? There is a larger and fast-growing pool of virtual assistants who can prove their worth with samples of work already accomplished for other clients.
Studies also show productivity is higher, on average, among virtual workers who don't have to engage in office commutes becoming longer each year. Plus, they can focus on the task at hand, rather than waste project time at on-site meetings.
Three new trends will fuel continued growth in virtual workforces.
1. Higher transportation costs are making working from home more attractive.
2. Personal technology costs have lessened, making it more affordable to have a laptop, Internet access, email and cell phones for 24/7 availability.
3. Plus, Baby Boomer and Generation X demographics are working to fueling virtual worker growth. The emerging Generation X demographic (late 20s to 40s) is more independent than earlier generations and less likely to see one 9-5 job as a career goal in the face of continued layoffs, disappearing pensions and the higher number of workers changing jobs often. At the same time, more aging Baby Boomers without pensions are making themselves available as virtual team members.
Here Are Seven Ways to Build Your Best Virtual Team
1. Build Your Virtual Team Incrementally. If you are starting from scratch, ask a "virtual" team member for recommendations to create a system founded in part by telecommuters who already know each other and are used to working together. Ask for examples of past results from working together on projects before you make your decision.
2. Create an Online Office Cooler. The advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather set up Truffles, an online resource for virtual team members to share ideas, get to know each other, and also to use the "office cooler" to come together during tight deadlines to troubleshoot and speed completion times. You can set up your own blog for your virtual team to share ideas. Continually monitor that blog as a means to make more productive use of your virtual workforce.
3. Don't Hover. If you're a micro-manager, appoint a more democratic subordinate to oversee your virtual team. The most successful telecommuters inherently are highly independent and will view a constant barrage of cell phone calls and e-mails an intrusion on their ability to focus on getting the job done. Consider naming a veteran virtual worker with more experience and personal knowledge of virtual team psychology as your subordinate to oversee the team.
4. Be Flexible. If you or your designated subordinate finds that a virtual team member is not performing well without constant supervision, consider replacing that worker. If a virtual team member is acting bored, first push the edge of the envelope with a more challenging assignment that might benefit you more than immediately replacing a team member who may just be in need of the stimulation of a more challenging role.
5. Encourage Office Cooler Friendships. Online conversations can seem like a frivolous waste of time to traditional employers who demand a work-only focus, but conversations about outside interests and skills can trigger innovation when it relates back to the company. BP encouraged off-topic conversations, and the interest expressed by environmentally minded staff gave BP a jump ahead of other energy companies in the now popular strategy to "go green" with marketing strategies. Again, you can create a "topic" based blog that encourages your virtual team members to have off-topic conversations.
6. Consider Virtual Interns. Virtual interns are becoming more popular, as more computer savvy college students make themselves available for virtual assignments in their fields of study. An advantage is that you can shop the country instead of your local college for a free or low-pay intern, and another is that you will have more information on how a potential on-site employee is likely to perform on the job (and perform with your existing staff) before making the hire.
7. Think local. If you are just venturing into creating a virtual team, or are more comfortable with having virtual team members who can meet with you at your place of business, think locally when hiring. Even some of the largest companies are turning to www.craigslist.org to post ads for virtual team members locally. If you're in search of a graphic design, marketing, public relations, writing or editing pro, also consider www.journalismjobs.com. With so much of today's workforce telecommuting or taking on part-time jobs from fully equipped home offices, you might be surprised at the range of talent available in your city.
© 2008 Ruth Klein
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IF YOU LIKED THIS ARTICLE, then you'll LOVE becoming a member of Ruth Klein's Laser Secret Society, which will bring you the latest trends, hottest research and smart tips to implement the best strategies to outmaneuver your competition and stay ahead, especially in a tough, competitive economy. Can you afford NOT to become a subscriber to this insider's advantage to making your business an innovative, profit-making enterprise? Visit www.ruthklein.com to learn how you can become a subscriber.
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The most important business invitation you'll receive this year!
Every year, the nation's largest companies spend millions of dollars on outside specialists who track and analyze trends. The average high-level CEO and his staff pore through hundreds of pieces of information each day for that one idea that will grow profits.
Instead of success, studies show these companies lose billions each year in lost productivity and blocked innovation because of information overload. (The economics research firm Basex puts a $588 billion price tag on information overload.)
Become a Charter Member of Ruth Klein's Laser Secret Society Report And Erase The High Cost and Wasted Time of Information Overload.
WHY MY REPORT?
No matter how large your knowledge staff is, or how many outside consultants you hire, it is mathematically impossible for you to keep abreast of every piece of information that may or may not be of value to your business. We can't either!
What we can do is zero in on our most trusted sources and our trademarked trends tracking system using top expertise to analyze (using demographics, psychographics and six additional success measurement tools) and condense new information. We then provide you the Smartest Tips to use this information RIGHT NOW to innovate and grow your business.
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Marketing Strategist and Productivity Coach, Speaker and Author Ruth Klein is the owner of the award-winning boutique firm, The Marketing/Time Source.
If you liked today's issue, you'll LOVE these best-selling books: "The Everything Guide to Being a Sales Rep" and "Time Management Secrets for Working Women."
Listen to Ruth at the Office Depot Web Cafe' on: Branding Out! Harnessing the Power of Your Business & Personal Brand via www.ruthklein.com. Stay tuned for updates on Ruth Klein's upcoming PBS Special, coming in 2008. Learn how to become a sponsor and reach the upscale, highly educated PBS audience, by writing to Ruth Klein at rklein@ruthklein.com.
You can find more of Ruth's smart time management and productivity tips at AOL Coaches at www.aol.com.
© Ruth Klein 2008
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Contact me directly at rklein@ruthklein.com.
A note to my readers: I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.
Here's to Your Branding & Productivity Success,
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